The present invention relates to an improved apparatus and method for packaging, storing, producing and combining inoculants and components thereof. More particularly this invention relates to a new and improved apparatus and method for avoiding loss of product quality due to adverse conditions which affect living microorganisms contained in commercial inoculant products.
The present invention may be used in any situation requiring the application of high numbers of microorganisms including, but not limited to agriculture (horticulture, floriculture, field crop production, forestry, animal husbandry), aquaculture, terrestrial and marine ecological re-mediation bio-degradation systems, and fermented food industry.
The use of legume inoculants offers both economic and environmental advantages because it reduces the dependence on chemical fertilizers. Also, use of inoculants can increase the yield of legumes specifically alfalfa by as much as 15%. For other legumes, the Rhizobial inoculants currently available increase the yield from no less than 10% to more than 200%. In addition, introduction of Rhizobia by seed inoculation is simple, inexpensive, and energy efficient.
The market for nitrogen-fixing microbial inoculants is about $15 million in the United States, about 25% of which is inoculant for alfalfa, clovers, and other forage legumes. The market is rather stable, with the number of acres treated declining, but with the decrease being compensated by more purchases of higher-priced inoculants. Based on some assumptions made it has been estimated that the value of the inoculant market would have increased to about $40 million (1988 dollars) in the United States by 1995. Worldwide sales would have been at least $80 million by that time (Wheat, D. W. et al, 1988, Biotechnology in Agriculture--Industry Report, Arthur D. Little Decision Resources, Inc. via DIALOG Database No. 545 INVESTEXT Report No. 1118580). In Western Europe, Frost and Sullivan estimate that by 1994, the microbial inoculants market is expected to reach $93.7, up from $32.9 million in 1989. (Frost & Sullivan, 1990, Research Studies, "Use of microorganisms in agriculture will triple in Europe in four years." via DIALOG Database No. 16 PTS Promt). The largest application in that market is fermentation of silage, followed by soil inoculants, or the bacteria which fix nitrogen. The primary market opportunities for soil inoculants is seen in Italy and France, where soybean production has increased dramatically. Decision Resources Inc. (1992) presented the potential market for microbial products for the year 2000 as follows:
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ World: Markets for Microbial Products, 2000 US US WORLD WORLD ($ mil) (%) ($ mil) (%) ______________________________________ Microbial 500-1000 83.6-88.1 1000-2000 83.6-86.9 Pesticides Silage 70-100 11.7-8.8 150-200 12.3-8.7 Inoculants Rhizobium 20 3.3-1.8 50 4.11-2.2 Inoculants Others* 8-15 1.3 15-50 1.2-2.2 TOTAL 598-1135 100 1215-2300 100 ______________________________________ *(Frost & Sullivan, 1990, Id.).
In developed countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, and some European countries, commercial enterprises based on the inoculant production technology exist at this time. In developing countries however, promotion and use of Rhizobial inoculants and the establishment of an inoculant industry is still in its early stages and would only be successful with the demonstration of its significant benefits (Singleton, Paul W., Bohlool, B. B., and Nakao, P. L. 1992. "Legume response to Rhizobial inoculation in the tropics: myths and realities, in Myths and Science of Soils of the Tropics." Soil Science Society of America, Special Publication no. 29. As the use of legume inoculants become more widespread, market potential also grows. Legumes are an important food source which are grown in different parts of the world.
TABLE 2 __________________________________________________________________________ Soybean Area Harvested, 1985-88 (in 000 Hectares) SOUTH WORLD USA AMERICA ASIA EUROPE AFRICA __________________________________________________________________________ 1985 53089 24922 14306 11155 639 372 1986 51905 23590 13245 12329 763 386 1987 52475 23057 13570 12541 1105 411 1988 54651 23222 15920 12306 1025 434 __________________________________________________________________________
For soybean alone, there were about 55 million hectares harvested in 1988. Most of the soybean area harvested is in the US, but the Asian and African countries where researchers have done some of their inoculation trials, constitute about a quarter of the total soybean harvest area. At an inoculation rate of 0.3 kilograms inoculant/hectare, Asia and Africa together will require about 3.8 million kilograms of inoculant. That is equivalent to about 42 million 90 gm-bags of peat inoculant.
One of the advantages of using Rhizobial inoculants is that they are more economical compared to petroleum-based nitrogen fertilizers. It has been estimated that it would take at least $87 worth of urea/hectare to produce a soybean yield comparable to that possible using only $3 worth of the inoculant. That would translate to $38 million worth of inoculants in Asia and Africa. If 20% of that market is captured, it would be worth about $7.6 million. In the U.S., although most of the market is geared towards soybeans, only 15% of planted acreage is treated with Rhizobia. Another sector of the US market is the market for alfalfa, which is more stable. Despite being smaller than the soybean market, approximately 80-90% of planted alfalfa acreage is inoculated (Biotechnology in Agriculture: The Next Decade: Nitrogen Fixation, Research Studies--Decision Resources, Inc. February 1992. via DIALOG Database No. 16 PTS Promt).
Rhizobial inoculants for many legume crops are manufactured in a number of countries around the world. Indonesia has Rhizogin-Indonesia; Australia has Agricultural Laboratories; the Philippines has the University of the Philippines at Los Banos, and Zambia has the Mt. Makulu Research Station, as the major inoculant production facilities (BNF Bulletin. Winter/Spring 1992. Vol. XI (1)).
Based solely on legume inoculant market in U.S. estimated revenues generated from legume inoculant product sales are valued at 60-80 million dollars/year. The current international market is 10 times the US market. Based on an understanding of legume-Rhizobia system, quality of inoculant legume products at the farm would be enhanced 10 fold. Conservatively estimated inoculant producers would be willing to pay 10% of their gross product value for the final product that the present invention teaches. Since the difficulty of maintaining viability while shipping microbial inoculants limits U.S. exports, the market growth for these products should be enhanced.
The use of the present invention would result in high cost savings and benefits due to a more cost-effective method of transporting sensitive and fragile microbiological components into adverse environments, which reduces dependency on climate-controlled storage and transportation, and results in consumer savings in cost of application per unit.
The "fermentation" technology for producing pure cultures of Rhizobia is well developed. Inoculants either are applied to the legume seed in bulk before planting, are used in a granular form as a soil treatment, or are sprayed on the soil. After reaching maximum numbers in growth vessels, pure broth cultures of Rhizobia are then mixed with a carrier material to produce the final inoculant product. One of the conventional methods involves mixing the legume seeds with the appropriate strain of the Rhizobium before planting and is usually carried out in the open environment.
The current industry standards in preparing inoculants are the sterile and non sterile "carrier" techniques. The sterile technique may use a diluted culture of the appropriate microorganism and a carrier material (e.g. peat) which has been sterilized either by irradiation or by steaming. The diluted culture is injected into the bag containing the sterile carrier. By massaging the bag and mixing the culture with the carrier, the microorganism can regrow up to the pre dilution concentration within 5-7 days.
The non sterile technique requires a concentrated pure broth culture of the microorganism for the non sterilized carrier. The sterile technique has the advantage of producing more inoculant from the same amount of pure culture produced through "fermentation," more organisms per unit weight inoculant, and a longer shelf life. This is made possible by the use of a diluted culture instead of a pure culture.
A limitation associated with inoculation success or failure is that it is highly site-specific. It would depend on the interaction of multitude environmental and management variables such as soil nitrogen availability, indigenous Rhizobia, soil, climate, crop history and other interrelated factors. Another limitation is that, although it is beneficial in newly planted fields, its benefits may be limited in major legume-growing regions due to the presence of larger competing indigenous Rhizobial populations.
Commercial inoculant products contain living microorganisms which are sensitive to adverse conditions associated with transportation and storage. All microbial inoculants have a finite shelf-life affecting product quality in transit to markets. Population decline of microbial inoculant with time and under existing conditions of heat and desiccation is well documented. In effect, product quality is highest shortly after production.
A need exists for an inoculant packaging system which provides adequate protection against product quality decline due to factors encountered by transportation and storage age.